changing colors

This is a blog that has been in the making for awhile. I love seeing before and after pictures so I thought it would be fun to share. 

A while back when Josh was working late nights on writing I decided to attack some home projects to keep busy. 

Living in a white walled apartment and on a budget I decided to try painting some of my favorite furniture to add some color and reuse what I already have in the house. With a little help from Martha and her $3 trial size paint this is the result. I actually only used 2 cans because one can had enough paint for an entire dresser.

This is one of my favorite little benches and I loved it in the natural brown wood color but love it even more in this rustic green. Sorry, i forgot to take a before picture.

This is one corner of the living room. I wanted to remove the blue color and just highlight the yellow and green. before...

after...

wall decor before...

after...this was super fun to paint an old black plate holder and reuse some old frames that happen to have green matting and then take some pictures of the kids and blow them up

ok on to the bedroom. this has been my favorite wall hanging that i found at Safeway of all places for 5 bucks! so instead of throwing it i just covered it in case i ever want to use it again. before...

after...i think this is my favorite project especially because my mom and i made it while she was here. it consists of tracing Hallel and Simeon's hands as the trees and an old shirt cut up for the flowers. and of course i had to put a bird on it, yet another recycled project.

bedroom wall before...

after...this plate was a wedding gift that I have loved and used in so many places but the card was separated from the present so i have no idea who gave me this wonderful gift...thank you to whomever?

  and the big project was painting the red dresser blue. I like the softer hue and the white washed look too

 the book shelf was a fakey wood grain particle board and i took the old red paint to the store and they mixed it brown for me for free!

and the bed before...which i still like just needed a change

after...just took off the duvet cover and the pillow covers. these pillows are ones that my sister made for me a few years ago and i love them

seriously it was fun to find things that i already had and transform them into new things. i think this whole transformation only cost around $20 which fits my budget:) i hope you enjoyed this blog as much as i did!
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summer fun

little chef making strawberry jam

 head cook observing our work and having snacks

 stirring in loads of sugar

 finished product

blowing bubbles

water table fun

 hot day mohawk

draft sent

The dissertation has been sent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe it's true and I'm not the one who did all of the work! I am so honored to write that my dear hard working husband through days of sweat and toil has printed and sent his paper, or shall I say book, to the readers. The next step is the defense, so there is still some work ahead. But we are very excited to be at this point. We are so thankful to our gracious Lord who has seen us through this process so far. Also, thank all of you who have encouraged, walked with us and prayed for us, and please continue to pray for us as we finish and pursue finding a job.

On June 20th, Monday morning, we had the car packed and loaded and stopped at the post office to mail the dissertation on our way out of town. It was a true celebration. We had been postponing our family trip for this moment and even had a countdown on the wall for Hallel of our family vacation. We headed off to the beach for 3 days and soaked up some much needed family time! I will let the pictures tell the rest...

Lunch at Capitola Beach

 A perfect day at the beach to make lots of sand castles.

 Simeon cried when he first saw the waves but then warmed up to them.

Hallel begs Josh to make her a castle and then can't wait to destroy it.

Dennis the Menace Park which the kids LOVED and it was free!

 Simeon and I crossing the bridge to get to the green twisty slide.

The park was full of great slides and playgrounds for all ages.

 Hallel's favorite was the "bumpy slide".

White sands beach across the street from Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey.

 It amazes me how much fun the kids had just shoveling sand!

 The only bummer was that our pool was freezing at the hotel so a dip of the toes was it, even though Hallel was soooo excited to swim. She would look out the window of our hotel and stare at the pool. so sad:(

Classic CA In n Out next door to the Hotel, very convenient! It was fun since we never go to the one near our house. :)

 Watching Curious George and Angelina Ballerina at the hotel, a very special treat!

 And of course Red Robin, our fav on the way home! Super special and fun vacation!

U2 360 tour

A year ago Josh and I got tickets to see U2 and unfortunately the concert was postponed for a year. But thankfully our tickets were still good and we were able to go in much better circumstances (it is amazing the freedom when you are not nursing). Plus it was a welcome break to spend the evening with Josh in the midst of his writing deadlines.
I think my favorite song was Beautiful Day and Josh's was probably Where The Streets Have No Name. But how can you go wrong with Bono and the Edge outdoors with 62,000 people in a full stadium with a 360 screen, a beautiful moon, and the best date ever. It was so fun to listen to U2 together since Josh is the one who has gotten me to really like them and their songs have a lot of road trip memories attached to them. I will let the pictures tell the rest.
burgers in Berkley

"the Claw" which holds the 360 screen

 listening to Lenny Kravitz the opener

 nice person who took our picture and their finger

 the show

 the screen being stretched, nice effect

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